Altogether Beautiful

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Hello Everyone!
I feel like a broken record saying I am sorry for the enormous gap between posts. This semester has been one of the most difficult of my life. Those of you who have been with me for a while will know that in August I lost a dear friend. I unintentionally took an extensive break from posting in order to focus on school, coping with this, and helping my friends through this time. However, this is 2015! It is a new year, and I am so excited to unlock what 2015 has in store. I have been painting my nails through this time, but it has been a lot less frequent, and to be honest none of the things I've done in that regard have been exciting enough to blog. I wanted to get a post up letting y'all know that I'm alive, nail painting, and ready to get back to blogging! Some things you can look forward to are a nail polish highs and lows of 2014 and something I haven't done before: a lip product post! I'm pretty obsessed with lip products so I figured it would be appropriate. Anyway I am really excited to be back and I can't wait for y'all to check out the upcoming posts! Have a wonderful Wednesday!
~ Mary Elizabeth
Ps Here is a taste of my semester!

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Hey there.
It brings me great sadness to be writing another post like this, but I feel I must share my heart with you. Friday night my suite mate and dear friend Trevelyn Campbell was killed in a car accident. She was an absolute light in the lives of those around her. She may be the most genuine person I have had the pleasure to know. If she gave you a compliment, she meant it. She spoke her mind, yet she would never hurt the feelings of another. I became friends with her in the last year. At first I wasn't sure how we would get along, but the more time I spent with her the more I grew to love her. She was a fellow beauty lover, sporting all kinds of fun lip and hair colors. She was one of the most amazing artists I've known. Her work simply blew me away every time. I got the privilege to live with her for the last two weeks during band camp, which was supposed to be the beginning of our year long adventure. Although I will not get the opportunity to spend as much time with Trevelyn as I would have liked, I know as a fellow daughter of Christ I will see her again in heaven.

I'm sorry to be such a downer, but I feel like her light should be spread. If any of you have any questions or need prayer for anything please feel free to comment below. Have a Super Sunday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Monday, August 4, 2014

Hey Guys!
So today's post is my messing around with some new zoya polishes that I ordered online. These are definitely some of the best ones I've used from this brand. Hope y'all enjoy!

The color on my ring finger is ZoyaMagical PixieDust in Cosmo, and the rest of the fingers have Zoya Blu. Cosmo is definitely my favorite of the PixieDust line. It is mostly silver glitter with other colors and holographics throughout. I like that there is a combination of big and small glitter, yet it's not as rough or sharp as the first round of the OPI liquid sand ones which were the same kind of deal. It takes a few coats to get the glitter solid, but it looks beautiful once you build it up. Blu is a great, solid baby blue. I've really been into light, creme finish polishes lately, and this one definitely fits the bill! I used two coats out of habit, but I probably could have gotten away with one. I also really like the way that these two polishes go together. Cosmo makes a great accent nail! I have really grown to love Zoya as a brand, and I can't wait to try more!

I hope y'all enjoyed this post, and please feel free to leave comments below on other posts you like to see. Have a Marvelous Monday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Monday, July 21, 2014

Hello Friends!
So I'm a slacker. Don't judge me. But here I am! So I had to work on fourth of July this year :( but that doesn't mean that I couldn't do fourth of July nails! So... here they are!

So first of all, let's ignore the little polish mistakes that I didn't clean up. I got lazy. Anyway, this is a lot easier than it looks. I got several comments along the lines of "OMG how did you do that?" It's really not that hard. So for the red I used OPI Red Hot Rio. This is the only red I have that is not a purply red, and I think it worked out pretty well. The blue is OPI Unfor-Greta-bly Blue. The white is Julie G White Orchid. For the stripes, I started with the white and let it dry. I took some small pieces of striping tape, put it on my hand to unstick it a little, and then place the pieces vertically on my ring finger nail. Then I applied Red Hot Rio over the tape. Next I carefully pulled the tape off. Finally I finished all the nails off with a coat of Seche Vite top coat.
I hope y'all enjoyed this post and had a great fourth! To close here's a picture of my family on the fourth.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Hey Everyone!
Today's post is a cute look that I thought I'd give a shot. It's an interesting combination on nude polish and a bright color. If you try this out feel free to substitute the green I used for any other bright color you like.

Now each nail was done a little differently. For the pointer and pinky, I started with a base of Zoya Mitzi. This is a kind of sour green color. It has a matte finish, so if you want it to shine you'll need a top coat. I used some striping tape and made a diagonal. Then I painted over the nail (below the tape) with OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons. This polish is really growing on me. I was a bit hesitant about it when I first bought it but now I actually like it! For my middle finger and thumb I started with Don't Pretzel My Buttons as the base. Then I laid two pieces of striping tape in the middle of my nail in a chevron. Then I went over it with Mitzi. Be careful wen removing the tape so that you don't mess up the polish underneath. On my ring finger I simply used two coats of OPI DS Classic. Finished it all off with a coat of Seche Vite top coat.

I hope y'all enjoyed, and if you give it a shot then leave it in the comments below! Have a wonderful week!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Monday, June 9, 2014

Hello Lovelies!
Today's post is how I did my nails for my sister's high school graduation. Before I begin, I just want to say how proud I am of my sister. She is one of the hardest working people I have ever met. She is going to the same school as me in the fall, which is very exciting :) These are not my school colors (which would have been a good idea but I didn't think about that), but they went well with my dress. Enjoy!

I started with a base of two coats of OPI Antibreak. Then I used my Kiss art polishes in gold and black to add the stripes. I am personally proud of myself for how straight I made those lines. It's something so much more simple than you might think. I hope y'all enjoy this cute look, and have a magnificent Monday!
~ Mary Elizabeth
Ps Here's some pictures of my sister's graduation!

Friday, May 23, 2014

Hello Lovelies!
I hope y'all are having a fantastic day so far! Today I am doing my first actual nail post in quite some time. Sorry about that, but I've had a pretty busy life (as you may recall from my last update). Today I wanted to share with you a crosshatch design I saw on pinterest. It's super easy but cute at the same time.

I started with a base of OPI Steady as She Rose. I used two coats, but I probably should have used three. It came out a little thinner than I thought it would. I like this polish because it is flattering on my skin tone and is very work appropriate. For the crosshatch I used my Kiss nail art polish in black. I'll leave a link to the actual tutorial here since it's a little difficult to explain. One disappointment I had is that my Seche Vite top coat smudged my nail art. If any of you know of a quick dry top coat that won't smudge designs let me know in the comments below! I think this is a really cute and simple way to incorporate nail art into your nail routine. Hope y'all enjoyed, and have a fabulous Friday!
~ Mary Elizabeth